San Bernardino shooting leaves one dead, three wounded; 47 homicides in 2012

SAN BERNARDINO - A man was killed and three others were injured when an argument at a New Year's Eve party in San Bernardino escalated to gunfire, police said Tuesday.

Jason Kenneth Anderson, a 39-year-old Victorville resident, died of gunshot wounds to his upper body at about 11 p.m. Monday in the 600 block of W. 28th Street, according to coroner's officials. Three others hit by gunfire were taken to hospitals.

Anderson and several others were shot at a house party celebrating New Year's Eve, according to a police news release. The suspect, whose name was unavailable Tuesday evening, reportedly fled the scene and Anderson died at the scene.

Neighbors said they heard a large party get out of hand.

"They have big parties there a lot, a lot of cars always coming and going," said one neighbor who asked not to be identified. "This used to be a really good neighborhood, but in the last couple years it's gone to (pot)."

Neighbor Alejandro Sanchez said he had already gone to bed when he heard several gunshots, which he assumed were celebratory until he heard screaming.

"By the time I got up and to the window, the cops were already there," Sanchez said.

The shooting brought the city's total number of homicides for 2012 to 47, not including those ruled justified or officer-involved-shootings, according to police. The pace of killing slowed in December, but still marked a sharp increase from the 30 homicides in 2011.

This report has been corrected to indicate that there were 47 homicides in 2012.